We are about to dismantle our boys’ room, with a view to replacing carpet with floor, removing traces of old wallpaper, and re-furnishing. The thing is, the room is incredibly damp, and always has been.

We live in a 100 year-old end-of-terrace, and the room is on the first floor with two exterior walls. It is currently beautifully fitted with gorgeous, plush shag carpet from around 1984 (turquoise), and what I can only describe as ‘puffy’ wallpaper on walls that we had originally tried painting over.

On both exterior walls, both black and white mould form, and can not be removed. We run a dehumidifier all the time, and empty out about a gallon of water per day.

The question is: Can we eliminate the problem by removing the repulsive carpet and wallpaper, and then just redecorating? Or should we look to insulating the walls first? Would it work to frame in some insulation, then put plaster board on over top, and then decorate?

Builders professional and amateur, please weigh in with your thoughts.

remove the cement from the outside. its like a plastic mack….. it doesn’t matter how much rain it keeps out, the moisture comes from within. re-point (or re-render etc) the oustide with lime, it will act like goretex and keep the rain out but still breathe all that moisture out

You need to find out where the moisture comes from and try and minimise that and then try and maximise opportunities for moisture to evaporate. If you’re taking that much water out the air, it suggest you have water ingress somewhere keeping the room damp. Our Victorian terraced house is pretty dry all year round, bar the bathroom (shower steams it up a lot).

a gallon (4.5 litres) is a lot. that is health damaging. a person breathes out between .5 and 2 litres per day. add to that laundry on a radiator, wet dogs, wet clothing, steam from cooking, etc it all adds up. whether you have a sealed new build or an ancient solid wall building, that water has to get out somehow. since fuel bills have risen and windows get shut tight damp has become an increasing problem. in new builds mechanical venting is utilised, old buildings traditionally rely on the walls to take care of it but cement, rather than lime, just wont do this. cheap solution would be to use a fan to extract it outside (you can get humidity regulated extraction fans quite cheap on ebay. however, long term you need to think about getting the permeability of the solid walls you have to do their job if not just for your health, for the building

What footflaps says..find the source of the problem. It can’t be condensation with the weather we’ve been having…even condensation on UN-lagged cold water pipes shouldn’t ( read wouldn’t ) cause that much damp.

Dot and dab the walls with 30mm insulated plaster board.This will cure it for ever.
Skirts sockets and switches off if there on said walls….unibond the walls first then dot and dab the boards,re-scim ,skirts back on,long screws for sockets and switches.
Boards are approx £20 per 8 x 4.
By the way.I’m a builder by trade and own a property development company so this is spot on advice…
It,s the external walls themselves that are cold spots.This causes condensation and mildew to form.
End of thread.. 😉

It’s on the first floor, there’s a lot of dampness. It’s not rising damp, it’s not condensation. You have a water ingress problem. Check the gutters and the downpipes. Is there a water tank in the loft? Is it leaking?
You need to find where the water is coming in and stop it, everything else is a side issue.

Is it next door to, or under the bathroom? Check grouting and seals around bath. Also look at sealed up chimney breasts… they should have decent vents at each fireplace otherwise rain water from the comet pots will not dry out. Also check in the loft for water coming in around chimney. Do not waste money redecorating yet! Might be obvious when the carpet comes up.